


From Dust to Dust

by The_hip_shoulder



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Feels, Gen, What happened to the “normal” people?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-03
Updated: 2018-06-11
Packaged: 2019-05-17 20:50:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14838932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_hip_shoulder/pseuds/The_hip_shoulder
Summary: Some scenes showing what might have happened after “the snap”.





	1. Chapter 1

Sarah Davidson was getting married. The love of her life, Daniel Morie, had proposed almost a year ago, and she’d been looking forward to this day ever since. Her sister had done her makeup, her mother-in-law had done her hair, and a proffesional had done her nails. Sarah had never felt more beautiful.

She waited in the corridor of the church, waiting to hear the opening strains of “Here Comes the Bride”. Sarah felt nothing but joy for the life ahead of her- she was so exited to start a life with Daniel. In a moment, the music started. Her flower girl and ring-bearer (her niece and nephew) started skipping down the isle.

Her father held her elbow and looked into her eyes, his own shining with tears. He said through an  audibly tight throat, “Sarah, I’m so happy for you, darling. You have a good man in Daniel- one who almost deserves you.” The pair shared a chuckle, and Sarah  gently tapped her father’s arm with a playful “Stop, Dad, you’ll make me cry!” She kissed his cheek, not caring that it would leave a smudge in her lipstick. She loved her father and wanted him to know it.

The music swelled and Sarah and her father marched down the isle. In her heart of hearts, she knew that her life was about to change forever. She  just didn’t know how much.

There was no warning. One minute, Sarah was walking down the isle, arm in arm with her father, smiling into the adoring eyes of her fiancé. The next- chaos.

She heard her father say something in her ear and turned to him. To her horror, she saw him melting away before her eyes. He was turning to dust in her hands. Sarah gasped and tried to grab him, but before she could, he was gone.

She whipped her head to Daniel, expecting him to be halfway down the isle to help her, but he wasn’t. He was on his knees next to a pile of dust that sat where his mother had been standing.

Around Sarah screams were ringing out, but not from the dying- from the living. Sarah’s nephew- a boy of seven- crumbled to nothing next to his sister, staining her white dress gray. Sarah’s brother dissipated while trying to reach his now dust-covered, terrified daughter. Sarah’s best friend vanished in a puff of smokey dust.

Sarah half-stumbled, half-crawled down the isle to Daniel. She dodged weeping people and piles of ash, and collapsed in his arms, sobbing. She didn’t understand. Why was this happening? Why now, on her wedding day? Why?

 

Daniel was crying too, but he rubbed her back and whispered into her hair, trying to calm her down. She snuggled into his chest, grateful that at least he was still here.

Even as she thought this, Daniel’s comforting presence vanished. His soft scent was gone, along with the slight pressure of his hand in her hair. Sarah whipped around, his name on her lips, only to see him fading like mist in the summer sun. She didn’t even have time to say “I love you” before he disappeared.

Sarah crumpled in sobs, her heart broken in half. She wept into her dust-covered hands. Her tears slid through her fingers and made a muddy mess of her now ash-colored white wedding gown. She screamed into the air, demanding to know why she  was left with only half of herself, but no one could answer her.


	2. An Ashy Fire

 

Peter Dryer adjusted his ventilator and helmet before heading back into the flames. This building had burned for almost 25 minutes after the fire department arrived. No telling how long it had burned before that- the house was a ways from any other neighbors and it was 2:00 in the morning.

 

 

Peter could hear Daily through his radio, trying to direct the search.  Apparently  there were a girl and a cat still trapped in the building somewhere. No one had much hope left for them- if they  were found, they’d most likely be in terrible shape. Still, the search was on to find them. 

 

 

Peter plunged through the doorway, which  was wreathed  in flames. He immediately had to switch on his light to counteract the flickering darkness of the house. The overcast night and the heavy smoke inside the structure obscured his view. 

 

 

Perkins’ voice over the radio almost made him jump because it was loud and sudden. Perkins had found the cat, which was somehow still alive. Peter laughed a little. It wasn’t that funny, but Perkins sounded shocked that the cat wasn’t crispier than a piece of bacon.

 

 

Peter shifted his focus back to the task at hand. Daily had given Peter the upstairs near the girl’s bedroom to look for her. This would be a more dangerous area because the upstairs would be weaker, but Daily trusted Peter in dangerous situations.

 

 

Keeping Daily’s assignment in mind, Peter slogged his way towards the stairs. He swept his path with his eyes  just  in case he found the girl before he got to them. Before he even got close to the steps Carlson radioed saying that he’d found her  in the downstairs bathroom. Daily radioed and ordered everyone to get out of the house, so Peter got out immediately and went to talk to him.

 

 

On his way to find Daily, Peter stopped by where the medical personnel were treating the girl. She was unconscious and suffering from too much smoke inhalation and burn damage. Even so, to Peter’s experienced eye, it looked like she’d  probably  be fine after some medical attention.

 

  

Peter lingered for a moment before going to find Daily. This girl was about the age of his own daughter  Milly  . Seeing the little creature like this made him thankful that  Milly  was safe at home and not in this kind of danger. 

  

 

One of the paramedics noticed his attention and smiled at him. “Do you know her?”

 

 

”No,” Peter replied. He was about to continue his thought when an odd movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Something was wrong with the little girl’s hand. As Peter shifted his attention to her wrist, the whole of her lower arm  slowly  dissipated into smoke. 

 

 

Peter started in horror and instinctively turned to the paramedic to ask his advice. To his shock the paramedic too was fading into wispy nothingness.

 

 

As he was trying to process this, Peter’s radio activated with a squawk. Carlson’s panicky voice filled Peter’s ears as he  urgently  called for backup. 

 

 

With a sick, sinking feeling in his chest, Peter broke into a run towards the truck. When he arrived there, he saw Carlson, Perkins, and a few others standing in shock. The other half of the crew was nowhere to  be seen. 

 

 

“Where is everyone? Why did you call for backup, Carlson?” Peter demanded, out of breath from fear and from his panicked run to the truck.

 

 

”They’re gone,” Carlson breathed from his position slumped against the truck’s side.

 

 

”What so you mean they’re gone?” Peter’s heart seemed to drop even lower than it already was.  Maybe  it crashed into his stomach and that’s why he felt so sick. 

 

 

“They  just  went up in smoke- gone even quicker than the house. I don’t understand it.” This time it was Perkins who answered. The numbness in his voice scared Peter more than it should have. 

 

 

Suddenly  Peter was aware of a terrible sound. More terrible than the silence and the snapping of the  ceaselessly  devouring fire. It was the sound of a mother screaming. In that instant, Peter’s mind flashed to  Milly  and his wife Kiera. 

  

 

His phone was in his hand before he knew he’d reached for it. With more urgency than he’d felt on the way here, he ordered the remaining members to call their families. Then he followed his own advice.

 

 

His phone rang and rang and rang. He had to go to voice mail twice before Kiera picked up, and with each ring he grew more fearful.

 

 

Kiera finally picked up her phone and greeted him in a voice clumped with sleep. He didn’t even let her finish her greeting  before demanding that she go check in  Milly.

 

  

”Why? She’s fine, Peter. I put her in myself at 8:30,” Kiera replied through a yawn. “You should just let her sleep, babe.”

 

 

“Please  just  check.” Something in his voice made Kiera realize that this was serious. She acquiesced and, from what he could hear through the phone, appeared to  be headed  to  Milly’s room. “Something  really  weird happened here,” he explained, “and I  just  wanted to check on you and  Milly.” 

 

 

He glanced around him at his team members. Several were white faced, waiting to hear from their loved ones. A couple were crying, though from relief or from heartbreak he couldn’t tell. This scared him to no end.

 

 

Kiera’s voice jerked him back to the present. “She’s not here.” Kiera was definitely panicky. “She’s not here and her bed is full of ash!” 

 

 

The phone slipped from Peter’s now nerveless fingers. He stumbled backwards, tripping and going down. A wail like he’d never before made in his life ripped its way out of his throat. This fire had reduced more to ashes than  just  the house behind him. It had destroyed the lives of almost everyone around him. 


	3. Birth and Death

 Rhea Michaels was in labor. It wasn’t fun. Her husband, Eric Michaels, sat by her  bed and cheered her on. He allowed her to mutilate his hand bones as she squeezed it during the worst of her contractions. It was the classic birth scene, so perfect it could have  been scripted.

 

The Michaels family, in a short amount of time, would  be blessed  with twins. Rhea and Eric had chosen not to find out the genders of the babies. This was a tradition in Eric’s family and Rhea had gone along with it. She’d said that not knowing the genders would keep them from painting everything pink or blue.

 

The attending nurse told Rhea that she should push. Eric held her hand and rubbed her shoulders, giving her a constant flow of encouragement. He knew nothing about anything medical- after all, a plumber didn’t need to have any medical knowledge. He only cared about his wife. Rhea was the light of his life and he was beyond ecstatic to be having children with her. 

 

As cliché as it seems, the time did seem to  fly  by for Eric. Because he knew nothing about what was happening, he was only wrapped up in his wife. Because he was so focused on her, time slipped by him. He was  barely  aware of the cry of a baby in his ear before a nurse tapped him on the shoulder and said, “Mr. Michaels, you have a son.” 

 

Eric almost broke down then and there. It had always been a dream of his to have a strong healthy son that he could spend time with. He would nurture to be a good man in a world so  desperately  in need of good men. 

 

The nurse spirited the baby away and Eric turned back to his wife, who was still giving life to the second twin. Eric knew, based on some instinct, that the second baby would be a girl. It could have been his plumber’s penchant for order and balance, or he might have craved a daughter to dote on. Somehow he knew that the other twin would be a girl. 

 

He was right. Less than an hour later, Rhea held their son Blake David and he cradled their daughter Marie Angelica. He marveled at her tiny ears and the healthy crop of brown hair tufting her forehead. Blake was almost bald and what little hair he did have appeared to be blond in color. The contrast between the two babies was striking.

 

A nurse entered the room carrying a tray, which she set on the table next to the bed. She adjusted several knobs and dials on Rhea’s bed before asking if the family needed anything. Rhea smiled and shook her head no.  

 

The nurse took her tray, which must have been for another room, and turned to leave. As she did so, Eric turned his attention back to Marie, breathing in her baby smell.  

 

His mind had wandered. He was glad that the house that he and Rhea had bought a year before had several bedrooms. This would allow the twins to have their own bedrooms in the future. He wondered what their favorite colors would be. His mind found several rabbit trails and followed them. He was lost in his own musings and the comforting feeling of holding his sleeping daughter. 

 

The crashing of the tray to the floor startled him and made him jump. He jerked his head to see why the nurse had dropped the tray, only to see a sight that made his blood run cold. The nurse seemed to be turning into an ashy smoke. She’d spun around to look at him, and he saw the moment her blue eyes, big as quarters, turned to flakes of dust. 

 

He felt both sick and very alarmed. He started to tell Rhea to push the call button so that they could consult a doctor when he heard her cry out. Whipping his head around, he saw a sight that made his already cold blood run frigid.  

 

Both Rhea and Blake were flaking away. Rhea’s cry seemed to  be triggered by  Blake’s imminent disappearance, not her own, as she didn’t even seem aware of it. She was only focused on the baby. 

 

Eric lurched forward in his chair, but remembered that he was holding Marie in his lap before he got too far. He  gently  switched her to one arm before trying  desperately  to grab Rhea with his other, to no avail. Both she and Blake had sloughed into nothing before he could reach her. 

 

The nurse came into the room a few moments later to see if anyone in this room had seen any strange disappearances. She found  an abandoned tray, a sobbing father cradling a sleeping baby, and three piles of ash. No one else was to  be found.


	4. To Thine Own Self Be Dust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please be advised that this chapter contains references to and descriptions of suicide. Please don’t read it if you are sensitive to that kind of thing! I don’t want anyone getting hurt. Thanks! :)

DeShawn Higgins  was used  to being a loner. He’d always been one- alone in a huge family that was forever moving. By the age of 8 he’d learned that it was better not to try to make friends at school because his family would move soon. 

As he walked along the train tracks, DeShawn wondered why he hadn’t thought of this before. Why keep putting one foot in front of the other, as he was doing now, when he could stop moving his feet at all? Why keep trying when he didn’t care?  

He checked his watch. 8:37. The train was running a bit behind schedule- it  was supposed  to be in the station in the city at 8:40. The city was about 6 miles away.  

He supposed by now his mother could have found the note, although he doubted it. She didn’t often come into his room, so it could be hours or even overnight before his letter  was discovered. That didn’t bother him. This way he was less likely to  be interrupted. 

He knew his family would miss him. He had no illusions that they would not. He knew they loved him. Love, for him, had nothing to do with his decision. They would be less financially strainedwithout him. They’d have one less child to worry about. They’d be better off without him.

DeShawn had always been very practical. He’d never been smart, but he’d been practical. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to afford or succeed in college. He also knew that he wouldn’t be able to stomach flipping burgers for the rest of his life. He knew that if he were gone, it would be best for everyone. 

The train rounded the corner. Its light shone in the half-dark. DeShawn felt his body flood with adrenaline, but not with regret or with second thoughts. He knew this was the best thing to do. Not the right thing, but the best thing. He kept walking forward.

                     ***

The conductor, Juana Garcia,  stared out the front of the train. She wasn’t on high alert right now because there was no reason to be. The city was about 6.5 miles away and there was nothing between there and the train. She’d unload her cargo cars, then turn around for the trip back home, which was exciting. 

She rounded the bend in the tracks, expecting nothing. That wasn’t what she got. Instead, she saw a figure walking  purposefully  down the center of the tracks. He seemed to be watching her. The conductor’s heart sank. She knew why he was there. 

Over her 27 years as a conductor for Grams Cargo, Juana had had a few suicides via her train. They all haunted her. There was never a way to slow the train enough to spare the person. All Juana was able to do was watch and cry  silently.

The train approached the boy. The light shone on his face, lighting his dark eyes. Juana didn’t want to look-  maybe  she could avoid the nightmares if she didn’t look- but she couldn’t help it. 

The train barreled closer and closer to the boy. Juana’s gaze  was riveted  to him, begging him with her eyes to get off the tracks, to resolve his issues and live his life. Everything can  be remedied \- suicide is never the answer. 

The train was close enough now to the boy that Juana doubted that he’d have enough time to get off the tracks if he wanted to. She steeled herself for the moment of impact- but it never came.

Before Juana’s eyes, the boy  simply  melted away, like paper held in a flame. Before the train even touched him, he was gone, drifting away like dust in the breeze. 

As bad as an impact would have been, somehow this was worse. This was more nightmarish. Juana shivered, a tear running down her cheek. The boy was gone, nothing more than dust on the wind. 

Gone,  just  like that.


	5. Death Do Us Part

Aida Lampoor was getting ready for prom. She and her boyfriend Kyle had been planning this night for months. They’d ensured that every detail was perfect. They’d bought him a shirt to match her aqua-colored dress. He’d bought her a corsage and she’d bought him a boutonnière. Neither of them had seen the other’s flowers yet, so Aida hoped that he’d done a good job. She’d made and gone to hair and nail appointments. In short, Aida was ready for one of the best nights of her young life. 

The doorbell rang from downstairs and Aida turned away from her mirror to go answer it. By the time she’d gotten to her staircase, her mom had already opened the door. Aida cleared her throat to catch their attention. She paused at the top of the stairs for a moment so that Kyle could watch her walk down them, like in the movies.

She glanced at him on her way down and he had the biggest, goofiest grin on his face. It almost made her burst out in laughter. When she got to the bottom of the stairs, she thought he might take her in his arms and swing her around in joy. Instead, he took her hand and kissed it, which made her feel like even more like a princess.

”You look stunning, Aida,” he said, while fiddling with the box in his hands. She assumed it contained her corsage. 

“Thank you, honey,” she beamed. She gave him a quick sweep with her eyes and then a more detailed one. She took in his  neatly styled hair, his aqua shirt, and his silvery tie. He’d even borrowed the little diamond cuff links from his dad. He looked  good . 

“Is that my corsage?” She  gently reminded him after he made no move to stop staring at her and give her the box.

”Yeah, it is,” he blushed a little and handed her the box. She opened it and gasped a little with delight. The arrangement contained a couple roses and some baby’s breath on a pretty bracelet setting. 

“Thank you so much, Kyle! I love it!” She gushed. “It’s gorgeous!” She held out her wrist and let him  gently slip the bracelet on. She laughed at his face of intense concentration. After he finished she let him to the kitchen. She said over her shoulder, “ Your flower is in our fridge so it didn’t get droopy.” 

He laughed and followed her to the refrigerator, where she pulled out a single aqua rose and pinned it to his lapel. 

“There,” She said, standing on her  toes to kiss his cheek. “You look beautiful.” She winked at him and they both laughed.

Aida’s mom called them to come outside and take pictures. The pair posed next to the cherry tree, in front of the house, and in and around the other landscaping. 

Finally Mrs. Lampoor let them go. She kissed both of them on the cheek, making Aida blush and Kyle laugh, and then wished them a fun time.

The couple got into Kyle’s car, a 1997 green Honda Accord which he’d bought himself last summer, and headed to the park. They were meeting a group of friends there to take pictures before going to the Public Museum. That was where the prom was to  be held that year.

Aida and Kyle arrived at the park with no incident. Kyle had some trouble finding a parking spot. Even so, in a  relatively short time they were walking through the park to find their group of friends. 

Kyle’s parents were there to take pictures. Aida loved Kyle’s parents - they were always sweet and supportive of her in her sports or choir concerts. They’d been almost like a second set of parents for the two years that she and Kyle had been dating. 

After a good sized length of time in the park, Kyle’s parents declared that they had enough pictures. Mr. Yonkman said that they had enough pictures of everyone in the group to last a lifetime. Mrs. Yonkman gave Kyle a hug and Aida a kiss, saying that she looked gorgeous. 

After a nice sendoff from the Yonkmans, Aida and Kyle climbed back into Kyle’s Accord and headed off to the Museum. They had a little trouble getting out of the park because of all the traffic. After a little maneuvering by Kyle they were off. 

Aida leaned her head against Kyle’s shoulder, enjoying the smell of his cologne and the comfort of his car. “Their song” (“Firework” by Katy Perry) was on and she hummed along as the car sailed  smoothly down the freeway. 

Kyle shifted a little in his seat and leaned his head  briefly on top of hers. They sat like that for a second before Kyle sat up straight again to keep an eye on the road.

Suddenly , Aida’s head dropped, as if Kyle had pulled his shoulder out from under her. She turned toward him, protest already on her lips, but to her shock, he wasn’t there. Instead all that filled his seat was a pile of ash. 

Aida was too stunned to react. She stared at the empty seat, her head empty of any thought not containing her missing boyfriend. Unfortunately, this included thoughts of the now driverless car speeding down the freeway.

Just before his disappearance, Kyle had switched into the passing lane to pass a semi truck. As Aida stared in horror at her boyfriend’s empty car seat, his car drifted over into the slower lane. All the while it was slowing down as it went.

The crash was over before Aida even had time to process it happening. The semi, going at 67 miles per hour, crashed into the back of Kyle’s car, which was now going at about 55 miles per hour. The Accord, which had had its entire back end crushed in, flipped from the impact. 

When the police arrived on the scene a few moments later, they found a hysterical semi truck driver. They found a totaled, upside-down, driverless car. They also found Aida. What  was left , anyway. 

There were hundreds of thousands of car crashes that day, but few sadder than that. As blood had soaked into Aida’s aqua dress, “Firework” had still been playing. Her and Kyle’s song was the last sound she had heard. 

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing a Marvel fic, so please be kind! :) Comments and suggestions are appreciated.


End file.
